Artificial ear-drum



(No Model.)

B. A. WILLIAMS.

ARTIFICIAL EAR DRUM.

No. 360,074. Patented Mar. 29, 1887;.

N. ruins Phnmlitlwgnpher. Washinflon, o c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDNVA RD A. XVILLIAMS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ARTIFICIAL EAR-DRUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,074, dated March 29, 1887.

Application filed July 1, 1856. Serial No. 206,853. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that'l, EDWARD A. WILLmaIs, of the city of Brooklyn and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Ear-Drums for the Relief of Deafness, of which the following is a specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device made according to my invention. Fig. 2is a central longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a face View of the disk.

Fig. 4 is the same view as Fig. 2 of a modified form of the device. Fig. 5 is the same View showing a modified form of the disk. These views are enlarged, the actual length of the stem being about one and one-fourth inch,and the diameter of the dislnwhich is slightly oval in shape, about one-half inch.

Ear-drums have heretofore usually been made in two parts, consisting of a flexible elastic disk of uniform thickness and a straight stem of metal wire, either solid or tubular, attached at right angles therewith, the two parts fastened together by two small thin metal collars or flanges, between which the disk is inserted, or by a single flange inserted between this disk and a smaller one of the same material, and held in place by cementing the two disks together.

In place of the metallic parts, a small loop has been attached to the disk or made integral with:it,which is then inserted by grasping the loop with a pair of aural forceps and withdrawn in the same manner, or by a hook or a small cord attached to the loop and remaining in the car. In all these drums the disk is held in place in contact with the tympanic membrane solely by suction.

The object of my invention is to produce an ear-drum in which the disk is supported in position by a stem,and which shall be durable in construction without metallic parts and shall gather and concentrate the sound-waves. To accomplish this I make the disk a and stem 1) as a whole, instead of in two parts joined, the stem tubular, preferably curved upward to conform to the shape of the auditory canal,and united with the disk obliquely, so that the disk is in nearly the same relative position to the stem as is the tympanic membrane to the auditory canal, and being insert-ed and sup- It is made of flexible and elastic material, v

preferably rubber, and may be lined with a thin delicate substance, esuch as gold-beaters skin or soft gauze not impervious to air or moisturewhose contact with the membrane is more agreeable than that ofrubber, and may also be provided with small openingsfifor the purpose of ventilation. It is made a little thicker at the center and gradually thinner toward the edge, and preferably slightly concave, as shown in Fig. 5, the better to retain its proper expanded shape and position. The stem 0 may be hardened sufficiently to give it the requisite degree of stiffness to press the disk readily into place; but preferably there is inserted in it a separate stem, made of some flexible and elastic material-such as hard rubberwhich, when softened by heat, may be bent to conform to the shape of the auditory canal, which varies in different persons, and

also to adjust the disk to theinelination of the tympanic membrane in the ear of the person using the device. This stem is provided with a cone or trumpet-shaped orifice, d, to gather and concentrate the sound-waves; and the tubular opening is of sufficient size to convey them to the tympanic membrane through the medium of the lining e of the disk. The stem is inserted in the orifice by telescoping or fastened by screw-threads, and is thus made adjustable in length to conform to the length of the auditory canal. The size of the orifice used is also varied according to the degree and cause of deafness, and as in some cases it may practically close the auditory canal, the stem may be provided with small openings h, as shown in Fig. 4, to allow a portion of the sound-waves to reach the membrane outside the stem.

In, many cases it is desirable to expose through the medium 6 some portion or all of the tympanic membrane to the direct action of the sound-waves gathered by the orifice d, for which purpose the tympanic end of the stem may be enlarged slightly, as shown at g in Fig. 2, or in any form or intermediate degree to the full extent, as in Fig. 4,where thedisk a becomes simply the enlarged end of the stem 12, and its place is supplied by the thin lining e, which then practically becomes the disk. The edges can readily be firmly united under pressure, and by compressing the enlarged end of the tubular stem may be so united as to give to the disk any desired degree of tension. When in position, this tension is increased by pressure, which is then, as well as in the form shown in Fig. 5, exerted against the ring of bone and condensed fibrous tissue at the periphery of the tympanic membrane, instead of at the center of that extremely sensitive organ, thereby relieving it of all feeling or discomfort, and with the entire surface of the disk free to receive the sound-waves, it becomes a perfect auxiliary to the tympanic membrane, which is really but the drum-head of the tympanum or ear-drum proper. sides, when the lining-membrane of the tympanum is in acondition of chronic suppuration, as when deafness is caused by scarlet fever or scrofula, by using some porous material for the disk 0, the purulent matter discharged is collected in the spacey and readily removed with the device. This is an important feature of my invention, for not only is the disk as heretofore made liable to become crumpled and comparatively useless by losing its proper expanded form, but, especially when used as shown in Fig. 4, a slight tension,as of adru inhead, is ordinarily very advantageous.

By the variety of constrnction,as above de scribed, this appliance may not only be fitted drum, for it is safe to say that no two persons are affected with deafness in precisely the same manner, and with the same person both ears are rarely affected in exactly the same manner or to the same extent.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of its use, what I clairn,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An ear-drum having a curved flexible elastic stem adjustable in length and curvature to conform to the length and shape of the auditory canal.

2. The combination of the flexible elastic disk and flexible elastic tubular stem I), made integral therewith.

8. The combination of the flexible elastic disk and tubular stem having the trumpetshaped orifice d.

at. The combination, with the disk, of the tubularstem provided with lateral openings 7:. 5. The combination, with the disk, of the tubular stem having the terminal enlargement 9.

6. The combination of the flexible elastic disk and tubularstem b with the tubular, flexible, and elastic stem 0, having the trumpetshaped orifieed.

7. An ear-drum having a porous disk fastened eircumferentially and at a tension to the supporting tubular stem, substantially as and for the purposes shown and described.

1). A. \VlLLlAMS.

Witnesses:

I. B. TrrUs, H. M. Niisir. 

